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First Lady Melania Trump called for "unity" in Minneapolis and called on anti-ICE demonstrators to "protest in peace" following the second of two fatal shootings by ICE agents in the city over the weekend.
“We need to unify. I’m calling for unity,” she said during an appearance on FOX & Friends Tuesday (January 27) morning.
White House press secretary claimed that Trump had "very good" calls with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Monday (January 26) following the death of Pretti, 37, a registered nurse who worked in the ICU at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, after previously blaming Walz and Frey for "inciting" anti-ICE protesters, including Pretti, in a post shared on his Truth Social account on Saturday (January 24) after the fatal shooting.
“The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!” Trump wrote. “These sanctimonious political fools should be looking for the Billions of Dollars that [have] been stolen from the people of Minnesota, and the United States.”
Videos shared online appeared to show Pretti being taken down by multiple ICE agents and disarmed before an officer fired multiple shots during an anti-ICE demonstration in Minneapolis. The incident took place weeks after Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer during a protest in the same city.
Trump acknowledged that Pretti was armed and carrying two extra magazines at the time of his death, while White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller claimed Pretti was a "would-be assassin" who "tried to murder federal law enforcement" and labeled him as a "domestic terrorist" via FOX News. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison demanded that a "full, impartial, and transparent investigation" be held in connection with the shooting while a federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from "destroying or altering" evidence linked to the incident, Axois reports.